6 takeaways from Germany and Chile’s 1-1 draw at the Confederations Cup

Well, it was great as Germany and Chile lived up to the hype in Thursday's Confederations Cup clash. There wasn't a winner, as the two teams settled for a 1-1 draw, but it was a ton of fun.

What did we takeaway from the match?

1

Arturo Vidal was everywhere

At some point, Vidal's ability to run for 90 minutes non-stop and be seemingly all over the field should just be expected, but it's still incredible to watch. In this one, he was often the first man up the field on the press, then back in front of his own goal picking up runners. Germany couldn't do a thing without having to get past Vidal. Everywhere they turned, he was there.

It's what he does. It's what he's always done. And it's still amazing.

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2

Congratulations to Alexis Sanchez

No player in the history of Chile's national team has scored more goals than Alexis. The forward's goal to open the scoring in this one gave him 38 goals for his country, passing Marcelo Salas on the all-time list.

There have been times when Alexis has carried the scoring load for Chile and for more than 100 caps, he has been the team's main man up front. He is a Chile legend, and the honor of being the country's all-time leading scorer is well-deserved.

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3

Germany show off their depth again

Chile were probably the better team, but Germany had their chances in this one and played well. That's astounding considering that the Germans are fielding essentially a second string team, with Jogi Loew admitting that he's hoping five or six players can make next year's World Cup squad and Chile winning Copa America in each of the last two seasons.

Whether it was Lars Stindl scoring the goal, Niklas Sule putting in another fine showing or Joshua Kimmich putting in another strong performance, it's incredible to see the amount of talent in the Germany program. They can dig deep into their pool, call up inexperienced players, and still get results against really good teams.

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4

Chile's press gave Germany fits

Few national teams in the world press as well as Chile. The athleticism and fitness of their players allow them to fly around the pitch, putting pressure everywhere. Their system plays to that too, with positions only vague starting points from which everywhere has responsibilities all over the field. The defenders press, the forwards track back, left and right even get blurred. They're a constantly moving, chaos creating machine.

That press forced the turnover that created Chile's first goal, as Arturo Vidal got his foot on a ball then Alexis Sanchez picked it up before playing a one-two with Vidal for the tally.

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5

The press also bit Chile

There is a risk in pressing, and Chile got burned on Germany's goal. A bobble from the Germans sent the Chilean press into overdrive and they lost shape and discipline. That would have been fine had they gotten the ball, but Germany got the ball back and were able to pass the ball out of their own half. Once they did, they were in acres of space and eventually turned that into a goal, but it all started with Chile's press and Germany's ability to break it.

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6

Neither team is through, but both are looking good

Both teams entered the match knowing that a win would see them clinch a spot in the knockout stages. Obviously, neither team won so neither is through, but they're both sitting pretty.

With four points each, all Germany and Chile need are draws in their final group stage matches to book their spot in the semifinals. One goal losses even put each team through, and considering they are playing Cameroon and Australia, respectively, they are going to be very heavy favorites.

Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved.AP

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6 takeaways from Germany and Chile’s 1-1 draw at the Confederations CupUP NEXT

6 takeaways from Germany and Chile’s 1-1 draw at the Confederations CupUP NEXT